Magazine executives remained up in arms yesterday over a bomb dropped on their industry by the Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper reported Wednesday that publishers routinely inflate their sales projections so they can charge higher rates.

“It’s an old story that’s always been a conflict with advertisers, who now face greater accountability,” said one publishing executive The Journal based its finding on an audit of 2001 sales, which were hurt by Sept. 11.

“Everybody’s business went south that year,” said another publisher.

The Journal stood by its story and said it used 2001 figures because those were the most recently audited figures available.